Navratri. 9 days of celebrating the Goddess. Something didn’t feel quite right. Are we missing something? Is the festival not more than wearing a certain color each day, taking selfies, and donning new sarees?
I couldn’t help but ask – who is a Goddess? And in the modern-day context, how would I even describe her?
And the answers came flooding…
The woman who finally says, “I matter. My choice, my voice, my pleasure.”
The woman who stops waiting for approvals to feel she is good enough.
The woman who asks questions, reads, researches and then says, “Mujhe jo sahi lagta hai, main woh karungi” (I will do what feels right to me). The decision maker. The risk-taker.
The woman who chooses not to have children because she wants to live life differently.
The woman who remarries after a painful experience and says, “Why should I be ashamed of wanting to love and be loved again?”
The woman who walks out of a marriage that has taken away her peace, her identity and dignity.
The woman who balances her dreams, work, home, children, travels, hobbies and smile and says, “I love it all and I am not choosing an OR when AND is possible!”
And the woman who chooses to leave her job, raise her children or care for her family, without feeling lesser in any way.
The woman who, even at 60 or 70 says, “Ab meri baari hai” (My turn now).
The woman who fights quietly, falls, gets up and says, “Chal, phir se” (Once again).
Aren’t these our modern-day goddesses? Aren’t each of women reading this a part of the tribe? Didn’t at least one of the above make you nod and say, “Yes, that’s me!”
And is this really so new?
Look at the goddesses we have worshipped for centuries.
Durga – strength that protects and fights when needed.
Kali – the courage to destroy what needs to end.
Saraswati – knowledge, wisdom, learning and the freedom to think.
Shakti was never just about being soft, silent and sacrificing. It was also about creating, questioning, fighting, destroying and beginning again.
We have come a long way, and I am so proud of each one of us and our torch bearers who kept paving the way to make the world a little more equal, a little more beautiful, a little more safer.
For me, Navratri is a little reminder.
Don’t shrink yourself to fit someone else’s idea of a woman.
Do what you feel is right. Learn. Question. Fall. Rise. Apni zindagi apne tareeke se jiyo (Live your life you way).
Navratri is 9 days.
But Shakti? That continues.
And as a woman, I intend to keep discovering mine. You?
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